ADAM HITS A MILESTONE

Forty years ago today, Adam was responsible for the most amazing single day in my life.  Sorry to all my other kids, but it was the day Adam was born that I discovered that incomprehensible love a mother has for her child and the indescribable joy being a mother brings.  I continue to experienced it, but that first one is such an incredible surprise and overwelming, all encompassing love.  I had the same with each of the rest, but I was prepared for it the next times.  I remember Alan often staring down at our newborn Adam and just shaking his head in wonder.

He was such a cute little hairy darling.  I was in love for sure!  No child had ever been more beautiful!

Always a dog around.

Adam watched out for his sister!

He loved sports from a young age and excelled at them although our funniest story about his first year in T-ball was looking out in the field and seeing him with his mitt on his head staring off into space.

Good swimmers, but didn't have time to include it competitively with all his other activities.

Received  his Eagle at 14.  Did not like to wear the uniform in  public by this time, though.

Girls League formal.  Doesn't look to excitied, does he? Already too cool.  This was his favorite dog, Apollo, as a puppy.

Football was his favorite sport.  He played two years on the varsity CIF championship team.

Jennifer came into his life and wedding bells rang.

Aren't they a cute family?  (Did I like my hair that way?)

First Jade...

...and then Bailey

Here are some of the things I love about Adam:

1.  Adam loves his family and loves to be with them.  He makes sure he lets his girls know he loves them.  He spends time with them and is happy when they get interested in his things--as when Jade enjoyed golfing. His girls know they are loved and love to snuggle close in front of the TV.  He is also thoughtful of his brothers and sisters.  He is often the first one to call on their birthdays.

2.  He is a good athlete.  He has always been coordinated and has loved sports since he was young.  He was very good at most sports, but is always hard on himself when he is less than perfect.  He always has a few sports he plays throughout any week besides working out. He looks like he is thirty.

3.  I was looking for pictures of Adam and many, many have him holding or playing with a child, mostly nieces and nephews.  Adam loves children and goes to great lengths to win them over. They are so comfortable with him as well.

4.  Adam has a great mind.  He understands quickly and can explain what he learns in simple terms.  He came to work for us a couple of years ago and quickly had a good knowledge of the ins and outs of our business. We rely on him to straighten out the details of some of the complicated problems.  He can also transfer that knowledge in a sales situation.  He is low pressure but convincing.

5.  Adam loves sports.  One reason I thought I would never get his family back to California was his love of the winter sports.  Now that he is back he has learned to surf and is working on that skill.  He finds a way to take his family to the beach as often as possible.  He always plays on softball teams, as well as plays soccer once a week. He would be out golfing more if he could.  There are a few bonuses to living here such as being able to play golf year round. He is also a passionate fan.  I love watching the sports he is so passionate about because he draws me in.  Also he Tivos the events and we can watch them fast.  He makes it fun even  for me.

6.  Adam is disciplined.  He decided he wanted to lose some weight.  Now he was never overweight.  He weightlifting on a consistent basis, always pushing himself helped him gain so much muscle.  I have watched him lose weight because of his care with the quality of food he eats and regular daily excercise. He has learned to stay disciplined in other ways: consistent work-outs, budgeting, emotionally being in control, etc.

7.  Adam is a reader.  He will read any book I hand him if he has exhausted his supply.  He even loved all the assigned reading literature books in high school, even the ones everyone else thought were boring.  He really enlarges his world by all he reads.

8.  Adam is patient with me even if inside he is irritated. He will help me with a computer problem with great calms, even though it is so frustrating. He never complains in our business and accepts all assignments and critiques.

9. Adam is a dilligent member of the church.  He is reliable and capable in his callings.  Our ward has put him to work and used him in several capacities as well.  I appreciate his willingness to sign up for service projects just because it is the right thing to do.

10. Adam is a true friend to his Dad and me.  He spends a lot of time with Alan and that could easily cause friction, but it doesn't exist.  Alan particularly loves being able to share a joke, a funny picture, or bounce  a difficult situation off him. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADAM!  I LOVE YOU!

SAM HAS GROWN OLD!

Happy Birthday, Sam!  I am getting this done after you are in bed.  But you have to give me credit for getting it done at all, since I just got back from almost two weeks in Guatemala tonight.  I stayed up late the night we left trying to scan in pictures so I could easily post this with some comments.  I think I went nuts with the scanning.  So here are a lot of Sam as he grows up:

Coming home from the hospital!

With JR, about 2years old.

Maybe 4 years old.

8--he never really loved baseball.

Football mean look.

Sam silly

Bad quality pictures but from their fresman year at BYU.  They had something special from the beginning.

He loved to pick up his mother. 

Off to the MTC and then Chile, Santiago East mission.

Married !!

I think this is Max.

The day he defended his thesis.  Doesn't he look smart.

Ruby is born!

Sam officially is awarded his PhD.

Forgive me if I don't add a few more updated pictures.  Before I crash I want to put down a few things I love about Sam:

1.  Sam is a good listerner.  He calls me regularly and asks questions and listens and discusses what I say.  He also loves to make me think by his discussions. 

2.  Sam is a good dad.  He tries to get home early and his favorite activities involve his family.  He loves to be with them.  He has sung to all his children and they respond to his songs.  He is a hands on father even though he has been very busy getting his degree.

3.  Sam is converted to the Lord.  He believes the principles of the gospel and uses them with diligence in his life daily.  Because of his total commitment, he throws himself into doing the things that are asked of him, whether it is counselor in the SS presidency, Gospel doctrine teacher or Elders quorum president with enthusiasm and creativity.

4.  Sam loves his wife completely and is happy when she is happy.  I never dreamed he would turn into such a handyman. I can see by the way he lives his life, that he thinks marrying Lindsay was the best act of his life.

5.  Sam has a unique sense of humor. When joke night at Grand Camp is coming up he is sure to get a call from nieces for some advice.  His humor is usually their level.  He has other ways of  showing his humor.  He used to think it was funny to make me or one of his sisters scream by surprising or scaring us.  Does he still do that Lindsay? His type of craziness makes him a fun person to be with.

6.  Sam takes advantage of the brains the Lord blessed him with.  He pursued his degree until he had it, no matter the obstacles.  He thinks deeply and helps solve problems.  He loves to read and analyze, but stimulates others to do so as well. He retains things well and uses them often in his life.

7. Sam has become a very happy, outgoing person.  People like to be with him because he seldom gets down.  He has a great optimism about him.  Who knew?

8.  That brings me to the point that Sam has learned to change what needs to be changed in his life when he recognizes the problem.  He overcame a speech problem when he was a child that some people never conquer.  He learned to overcome the awkward public image he had been tagged with and extend himself to others and be happy and have many friends. 

9.  Sam has wisdom and character.  He does the right things for the right reason.  Sometimes he even helps me make better choices from his sense of integrity. He applies the scriptures to his problem solving and has many memorized.  He encourages me to do the same.  It helps.

10 Sam participates in life fully.  He is doing a triathalon soon.  He plays church sports. He enjoys his work and the people he works with and  works hard.  He calls Adam to discuss things Adam is interested in such as the NBA playoffs, me to hear what I Conference talk I like best, Alan to hear about his hunting and so on.  I love his interest in so many things.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!  I LOVE YOU!

IT'S ALMOST OVER

I can't send pictures but I can let you all know that we are fine and having a wonderful time. Mao has especially worried about us. We are very safe. We have even had two security guards following us since we entered Guatemala, just in case. We have stayed in top hotels everywhere, but the best may be tonight. We are in the Guatemalan highlands, which may be the land of Nephi or the land the Lamanites lived in for most of the Book of Mormon. We are in a place called Lake Atitlan which is a candidate to be the waters of Mormon. It is green and gorgeous and the hotel is surrounded by the most beautiful manicured gardens. We have had some minor intestinal disruption even though we have been totally careful. Alan got sick this evening, but I expect it to be mostly gone in the morning. Michael Wilcox has not disappointed us. He just has such wonderful narration. The people we are with are so great. aAnyway, we come home Tuesday evening. Will get this being more accurate and Updated soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSAY!!

Here some random pictures of Lindsay. I an in Copan, Honduras tonight seeing some amazing ruins. I downloaded some pictures to this post as a draft before we left Cali with the idea that I would be able to flesh it in over the internet. Unfortunately, the browser with iPad does not work too well on blogspot. I can't even see the pictures until I post it. But, I do not want to miss wishing Lindsay a happy birthday and telling her a few things I love about her:

1. Lindsay is one of the most committed members of the church I know. It shows in how she lives her life, how she does her callings, and how she raises her children. This is one of the highest compliment I give to anyone.

2. Lindsay is a wonderful,diligent, loving mother. Her great desire is to raise her children perfectly. She is willing to let other things go that she used to think were important to spend quality time with these kids-- teaching, training, and loving them. She is very successful at this.

3. Lindsay is a wonderful influence on my son. She brings out the best in him. He is a wonderful person, but he is a better one since Lindsay came into his life. She has spurred him on to do better at school, to live the gospel with exactness, and to learn to do many things like laying diagonal hardwood flooring he never would have learned on his own.

4. Lindsay wants everyone else to be happy, sometimes at her own expense. She truly cares about others.

5 Lindsay is very good at playing games. You don't realize she has such a careful strategy until she slips in and beats you.

6. She is very smart. This manifests itself in many ways such as how she teaches her kids the Gospel and to read, how well she did in school, how carefully she manages their budget, and how she solves problems.

7.Lindsay is a very good writer. I am jealous of what great blogs she writes. She makes the smallest details of her family life come alive for us in pictures and words.

8. Lindsay is such a willing worker. I can always count on her pitching in when she visits. She can spot the jobs to do and doesn't have to be told what needs to be done.

9. Lindsay has a wonderful sense of family. She loves to be with her family on both sides and involves herself in their lives in a productive way never in a critical way.

10 Lindsay is a beautiful girl. That is what Sam said when he first saw her and I think she gets prettier every year. She has a great sense of style and it carries over into her home,dress, and all she does.